Latvia vs Canada Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for 2023 IIHF World Championship Game (Canadians Open With Fireworks)

Latvia vs Canada Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for 2023 IIHF World Championship Game (Canadians Open With Fireworks)

Updated:

The 2023 IIHF World Championship begins on Friday, May 12, featuring a Group B matchup between Latvia and Canada.

Latvia vs Canada Game Info

  • Date: Friday, May 12, 2023
  • Time: 1:20 p.m. ET
  • Venue: Arena Riga -- Riga, Latvia

Canada aims to begin the tournament in a big way after falling 4-3 in overtime to Finland in last year's gold medal game. Meanwhile, Latvia — one of this year's host countries — hopes to take one step closer to winning its first-ever medal at the annual event.

Latvia vs Canada Odds & Spread

Canada enters this contest as the favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This group stage clash also features an over/under of 5.5 goals with both sides being available at -110 odds.

Latvia vs Canada Betting Trends

  • Latvia is 0-0-0 in the 2023 IIHF World Championship group stage.
  • Canada is 0-0-0 in the 2023 IIHF World Championship group stage.
  • Latvia was eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
  • Canada lost the gold medal game at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
  • Canada is 6-4 straight up in its last 10 head-to-head matchups against Latvia.

Latvia vs Canada Prediction & Pick

Although Latvia has the home crowd's support, it won't be enough to overcome Canada. The Canadian forward group is huge, all standing at least six feet tall and highlighted by names like Tyler Toffoli, Sammy Blais, Cody Glass, and Jack Quinn. Their defense also has familiar names that NHL fans will know, like Tyler Myers and Ethan Bear.

However, Canada's biggest advantage is between the pipes with goaltender Devon Levi. The 21-year-old netminder won the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA's top goaltender in both 2022 and 2023, and even backstopped Canada to a silver medal at the 2021 IIHF World Juniors.

Latvia simply doesn't have enough high-end talent to compete against Canada. Besides, the Canadians are fueled with the desire for revenge following a 2-0 loss to the Latvians at the 2021 tournament.

Final Score Prediction: Canada: 5 | Latvia: 1

Latvia vs Canada Best Bet

With the second-best odds to win the IIHF World Championship and the more talented roster in this matchup, I can see Canada covering the 3.5-goal spread. While it won't be easy, the Canadians have more than enough NHL talent and offensive upset to outgun any team in this tournament.

On top of that, Latvia only averaged exactly two goals per game in last year's tournament, whereas Canada averaged 4.7. The Latvians will likely have a tough time keeping the puck out of their net, so look for Canada to cover the spread as the eventual victor.

Bet: Canada -3.5 (+220)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.